Mr. SPECTER. Will you state your full name for the record, please?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Rufus Wayne Youngblood.
Mr. SPECTER. How old are you, Mr. Youngblood?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Forty.
Mr. SPECTER. And by whom are you employed?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. The U.S. Secret Service.
Mr. SPECTER. How long have you been so employed?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Since March of 1951.
Mrs. SPECTER. What is your educational background, sir?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bachelor of Industrial Engineering.
Mr. SPECTER. In what year?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. 1949.
Mr. SPECTER. How were you occupied from termination of your college
work until starting with the Secret Service?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I worked for Bradshaws, Inc., which was a refrigeration
and air-conditioning concern in Waycross, Ga., and then worked for
Alvin Lindstrom, who is a consulting mechanical engineer in Atlanta, Ga.
Mr. SPECTER. And would you outline in general terms what your duties
have been with the Secret Service since the time you joined them?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I began in the Secret Service as a special agent,
criminal investigator, and started off at the Atlanta field office,
and stayed there about a year and a half. This time was spent
in investigation of Government forged check cases, bond cases,
counterfeiting, and similar investigations.
(At this point, Chief Justice Warren withdrew from the hearing room.)
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I came to the Washington, DC. area, and worked in the
Washington field office, a continuation of the same type of work I had
done in Atlanta, plus the beginning of the protective work, working
on temporary assignment at the White House detail. And then in 1953
I was assigned to the White House detail and worked there during the
Eisenhower Administration about 6 years, and returned to the Atlanta
field office for 3 more years in that area, during which time President
Eisenhower would come to Augusta and Albany, and on two occasions on
foreign trips I was called in.
And after 3 years in that field office, I returned to Washington again,
assigned to the White House detail. The last part of the Eisenhower
Administration and the beginning of the Kennedy Administration.
And in March of 1961, I was assigned to the Vice-Presidential detail.
This, at that time, was part of the Washington field office. And I have
been on an assignment with the Vice-Presidential detail since March
1961, except for a 1-month period when I returned to the White House
detail. And then back to the Vice-Presidential detail.
But during this time, the Vice-Presidential detail changed from a
field office assignment to a small independent office, and then,
later, in October of 1962, when legislation was passed, changing
the laws relative to protection of the Vice President, it became a
larger detail. And I have been on the Vice-Presidential detail in the
occurrence at Dallas, and returned to the White House detail when Mr.
Johnson became the President.
And during this period of time, I have been a special agent, assistant
special agent in charge, and was scheduled to be the special agent in
charge of the Vice-Presidential detail. But due to what occurred in
Dallas, I went to the White House as an assistant special agent in
charge.
Any other particulars?
Mr. SPECTER. Well, what was your rank at the time of the Dallas trip,
specifically on November 22, 1963?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I was the assistant special agent in charge of the
Vice-Presidential detail.
(At this point, Chief Justice Warren entered the hearing room.)
Mr. SPECTER. And as such, were you responsible for the security of the
Vice President on that trip?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, what is your current rank?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Assistant special agent in charge of the White House
detail.
Mr. SPECTER. And, as such, do you hold one of the three positions of
the assistant special agent in charge at the White House detail?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. And is that a rank comparable or exactly the same as that
now held by Special Agent Kellerman?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. Yes, sir; he is senior to me, but it is a comparable
rank.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, would you outline briefly and in general terms the
activities of Vice President Johnson during the few days immediately
before Friday, November 22, 1963?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. On Tuesday of that week we made a trip from the ranch
to Dallas, and we went by commercial plane--actually, from the ranch
to Austin in the Vice President's plane, and from Austin to Dallas on
a commercial plane. And while in Dallas, he addressed the Bottlers
Convention. And we returned to the plane, flew back to Austin, then
flew back to the ranch later that night, and remained at the ranch the
next day and through Thursday.
And on Thursday we went to San Antonio, to join the group coming down
from Washington.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, when did Vice President Johnson then address the
Bottlers Association in Dallas?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. That was on Tuesday.
Mr. SPECTER. November 19?
Mr. YOUNGBLOOD. I would have to look at a calendar.